OMAHA — Home runs are few and far between at the College World Series these days, which made Brian Holberton’s first-inning shot all the more important for North Carolina.

Holberton staked freshman starter Trent Thornton to a two-run lead before he even took the mound Tuesday, and No. 1 national seed North Carolina went on to beat LSU 4-2 in an elimination game.

“We certainly are happy to have survived this one,” Tar Heels coach Mike Fox said. “I thought the home run by Brian was really crucial for us, just kind of let the air out a little bit and let us play with a lead, something we seemed to haven’t done in a while.”

The Tar Heels (58-11) play North Carolina State in another elimination game Thursday. The No. 4-seeded Tigers (57-11) went 0-2 in their first CWS appearance since winning the 2009 national title.

“We expected to come out here and play better than we did,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said.

North Carolina, which lost 8-1 to North Carolina State in its CWS opener, staved off elimination for the third time in the tournament and remains the only team in the country not to lose back-to-back games this season. The Tar Heels are outscoring opponents 85-30 after losses, and their 58 wins are a school record.

Thornton (12-1) pitched seven strong innings in his first start since March 27. The 6-foot, 170-pound right-hander worked around two singles and three walks to hold the Tigers scoreless until the fifth and escaped trouble in the seventh thanks to a double play.

UCLA 2, North Carolina St. 1

Nick Vander Tuig pitched seven dominating innings to lead UCLA.

UCLA used two walks, two singles and a wild pitch to scratch out two runs and go up 2-1 in the fifth.